RIO DE JANEIRO -- Some at-the-buzzer instant analysis from press row at the Carioca Arena 1 after Team USA opened its 2016 Olympic campaign with Saturday night's 119-62 trouncing of China:
How It Happened: Length. Athleticism. Suffocating defense.
Get ready to hear those adjectives thrown around often over the next couple of weeks as Team USA makes its unstoppable march to the gold medal in men's basketball.
After a sputtering start for the game's first five or six possessions, Team USA began to apply force on D like no one else in international hoops can, smothering the Chinese with the sort of all-over-the-floor pressure and resolve-sapping resistance at the rim that has numerous observers already anointing this the best defensive outfit that USA Basketball has ever fielded ... without waiting to see how it looks against better competition.
Kevin Durant was the first American player on the floor to warm up for the second half, all by himself out there as if he needed to get some extra shots up to find his groove, but China could only dream that Durant was trying to shake out of some sort of funk. The newest member of the Golden State Warriors' star quartet had rung up 17 of his eventual 25 points in the first two quarters, benefiting most from all the inviting looks created by the Yanks' defensive application.
Team USA led for nearly 195 of a possible 200 minutes in the five exhibition games it played back home before traveling to the first South American city to ever host the Olympics and took the lead for good in this one inside three minutes. It was 30-10 after a quarter, with almost every player in dark blue giddily leaking out for the easy fast-break buckets that flowed out stop after stop, setting the tone for a rout that could have easily been in the 60s. Or more.
You almost got the sense that new Minnesota Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau wasn't quite satisfied with the focus he was seeing, given the loud strategic instruction on numerous first-half possessions coming from Thibs that could be heard even in the upper reaches of the arena where the world's media was stationed. Yet even Thibs, while shouting himself hoarse as usual, had to pleased with what he saw.
And presumably no one was happier by night's end than Chinese coach Gong Luming. After facing Mike Krzyzewski's crew three times in the past 14 days, China doesn't have to deal with Team USA for at least three years, when it hosts the next FIBA World Cup in 2019.
The Streak: That's now 69 wins in a row and counting for Krzyzewski; 17 consecutive victories in Olympic play, 19 in FIBA World Cup tournaments, 10 in Olympic qualifiers and another 23 wins in exhibition games. The Americans previously tasted defeat in the semifinals of the 2006 FIBA World Championship against Greece and launched this streak on Sept. 2, 2006, with a 96-81 victory over Argentina in the bronze-medal game in Japan.
Play of the Game: Highlight-reel plays from the runaway winners were surprisingly in short supply given the blowout nature of the night.
Or maybe your faithful international hoops correspondent is just spoiled by now.
What stands out most: Durant's flurry of three successive 3-pointers late in the first half ... and then Kyrie Irving's own trio of 3s late in the third quarter to hike the Americans' lead into the 40s.
Let's go with the Irving flurry as the topper, if only because it occurred with three Warriors on the court alongside him: Durant, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.
Numbers Game: After wins over China by 49 and 50 points, respectively, when the teams met in Los Angeles and Oakland last month, 57 points was the margin of victory when the teams met here in Rio for real.
Carmelo Anthony played in his 24th Olympic game for Team USA, tying the United States record co-held by LeBron James and David Robinson.
Anthony needed 18 points Saturday night to pass Michael Jordan as the third-leading scorer in U.S. Olympic history but settled for nine points.
Here's the updated leaderboard:
The United States is now 17-1 in Olympic openers, with a loss to Puerto Rico in 2004 in Athens its only blemish.
China is one of only two teams in the 12-team Olympic field without a current NBA player, though Yi Jianlian (25 points) has played in three NBA seasons and was the No. 6 pick in the 2007 NBA draft, four spots behind No. 2 Durant.
What's Next: Krzyzewski decided even before Saturday's night rout that he wanted to give his guys Sunday off. So he canceled the planned practice between Team USA's first two group games, opting instead to let the squad ease into the tournament.
It's not exactly a risky decision. Monday night's opponents from Venezuela indeed played the Americans closer than the three other teams to visit the United States for a five-game exhibition tour, but that was still a 35-point blowout in Chicago that had Venezuela coach Nestor Garcia openly admitting: "We don't have a chance at this level."
Team USA's schedule so far this summer admittedly hasn't been ideal, with five of its six games to date coming against the three teams widely perceived to be the weakest in the 12-team Olympic field: China, Venezuela and Nigeria. The reality, though, is that there isn't a lot USA Basketball could have done to make the prep phase tougher.
With Team USA not able to come together for training camp until July 18 after the long NBA season and USAB officials determined to stay stateside before the team left for Rio, they were limited to scheduling exhibition games against teams willing to come to the United States en route to Brazil. And Argentina was the only elite international team comfortable with that itinerary.
With Brooklyn Nets guard Greivis Vasquez out injured, Venezuela has no NBA players and will be relying on the veteran leadership of 35-year-old John Cox, whose cousin is a former Team USA'er named Kobe Bryant.